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Cutting Frame Notches


bwhip

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How do you pros cut the stringer notches in your frames? I'm not a woodworker, and after completing the frames for my Ravenswood, I figure there must be a better way. 

 

What I did was cut down each of the side lines of the notch with my jigsaw, stopping at the back line of the notch. Then I made 3 more cuts to the back line, more or less parallel to the side lines. I end up with four fingers of plywood in the notch (think of a badly made feather board), which I then cut out with a 3/8" chisel, run along the back line of the notch. Here's a graphic that's way prettier than what I actually did.

 

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Is there a better way to do this? I have a feeling that something obvious is escaping me.

 

Thanks,

Rich

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First, you need a good jigsaw. There is a big difference in the saws. Second a skinny blade. Then just cut down the side, back up, then turn and cut toward/to the far corner. Cut the other side and trim up the end. Granted I have cut a lot but 3, maybe 4 cuts and I am done.

 

I cut most on the bandsaw but I use the same method regardless of the saw I use.

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I should explain, the problem with a cheap jig saw is when you start cutting curves the blade will bend inward and you can have an angled cut. You must have a narrow blade to start with.  And good saws have a guide that helps prevent this. I struggled with my old B&D till I broke down and bought one. LIke night and day the difference. So if you using an inexpensive one, my method may not work.

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My Dewalt 317 has some blade drift, so I run it pretty slow, set the oscillation to zero, and try not to turn too tightly. If I can keep the blade in the roller guide, it cuts pretty well. The 20 TPI Bosch blades I'm running are about half the thickness (teeth to spine) of my 10 TPI blades, so these are the ones I switch to for the tight radius cuts.

 

Time to experiment.

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I just tried the two methods mentioned above, and got much better results than I did with my jigsaw and chisel. I had a little bit more trouble with the jigsaw only procedure, ala Jeff and Dave. It's probably just an issue with the quality of my jigsaw, more than anything else. It doesn't like the radius in Dave's #3 cut, so I had to run more of a straight diagonal as described by Jeff.

 

It was much easier (for me) to drill a 1/2" hole per Action Tiger. With a good, concentric brad point drill, you can accurately place the holes so you don't overshoot the line. I finished the cuts with a Bosch U101AO jigsaw blade.

 

All my test cuts turned out smooth and purty.

 

Thanks again.

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